Digital Minimalism
Cover of Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Rating: 9️⃣
Digital Minimalism is Cal Newport's manifestation of his lifestyle. He barely uses social media, outside of his personal blog, and advocates for as little use of it as possible. He is extremely vocal about his mentality regarding the adoption of new apps and technology:
“Not every thing that brings benefit should be in your life; rather the pros and cons of every new discovery should be weighed and choices should be made rationally.”
This mindset really stuck with me. Humans have adopted new technology on the basis of its potential benefits without looking at its disadvantages. This goes for social media, consumer technology and so on.
The book is as a 'wake-up call' for everyone to look back on our choices for the past few decades. As Cal says:
“Technology has evolved lightyears faster than our biological bodies could ever adapt to.”
The best example of this quote would be for artificial light, specifically blue light emitted by most displays and LEDs in devices nowadays. Our bodies have evolved to work with the circadian rhythm regulated by sunlight but with artificial light, it is disrupting our bodies' natural responses.
Digital Minimalism is a strong 9 in my book. Any and everyone is on social media and new devices, having their eyes glued to their screens. The world needs a reset with their screen-time and this book is possibly the first step for many towards a new life with less distractions.
About Cal Newport
Cal Newport is a blogger, podcaster, author and a computer science professor at Georgetown University. He has blogged on his website for over 10 years with the focus on Technology, Work and Deep Work.
He has written six books, with Digital Minimalism being a New-York Times best seller. His other books are "So Good They Can't Ignore You", "How to Be a High School Superstar", "How to Become a Straight-A Student", "How to Win at College" and his next best-selling book, Deep Work. There is a clear niche for Cal and he has written or produced content on these topics for well over a decade on his blog, giving him a strong authority within the community.
Cal Newport has appeared on networks with the likes of CBS, The School of Greatness, The Impact Theory, Good Morning America and The Breakfast Club. This is just a short list of Cal's appearances with countless articles mentioning and writing about his book; such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker.
Summary
Cal Newport keeps the book neat and tidy, in 7 concise chapters, split into two portions. He focuses one portion of the book on building the foundations of Digital Minimalism, helping you adopt the right mindset to tackle this big feat. He also details the underhanded methods that social media companies use to keep your attention on their platform and how they trigger deeper, more primal urges that give your body a positive response.
The majority of the book is spent detailing practices to reclaim your life from these distractions, from learning to declutter your digital life, removing the bait of social media, giving yourself the right entertainment, learning to be alone and so on. He explains how we are at the mercy of the digital companies such as YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat in the first chapter. It is a lost battle from the start. These companies spend millions, if not billions, researching how to keep us on these platforms longer. Do you think you have a chance against that? He gives the lowdown on how these companies have evolved to keep our eyes on their screens and their content in our heads.
He further explains what Digital Minimalism is, and the misconceptions around it. You're not Patrick Star, living under a rock; you have to be extremely selective of the modern day technologies that you adopt. Similar to how a company would adopt a new strategy or a new investment, you must personally weigh up every decision.
Digital Decluttering is the most important process of the book. It is a 30-day complete fast of unnecessary technologies, designed to weed out the fluff. He recommends starting out strong and drastic with a completely blank slate, then slowly populating your life back with only the essentials. The rest of the book is trickled with methods to maintain your digital minimalistic lifestyle, from keeping your energy to the important things and how to prioritize.
Top 3 Takeaways
Potentially beneficial apps and technologies shouldn't be adopted immediately
Cal Newport focuses a lot on the mindset on being a Digital Minimalist, building on the point mentioned in the Recommendo-Meter section. It doesn't just mean weeding out whatever new technology crops up, but he emphasizes on the importance of the right mindset and criteria when looking at any new technology.
He uses Facebook as his example. He often gets questioned as to why he isn't on the platform and told that he is missing out on connecting with so many people. The perspective that Cal brings is really straight-forward, he sees no great benefit that he gains from having Facebook and determines that he doesn't need it.
Digital Minimalism doesn't mean living under a rock
Being a Digital Minimalist doesn't mean you miss out on the news, it doesn't mean you don't get invited to events, neither does it mean you're a hermit that isn't sociable (though they aren't mutually exclusive). It simply means you respect yourself enough to not get eaten up by rapidly advancing technology.
Cal Newport bases Digital Minimalism off three principle he introduces in the 'Foundation' part of the book.
Building upon these principles, it shows Cal's perception of Digital Minimalism, it removes clutter, and allows for you to intentionally optimise the technology at your hands.
Human Psychology, and the companies behind apps, pushes us to use more social media - cues provided by these apps trigger the body to release dopamine and happy hormones
With the money and research that goes into every swipe of an app or smartphone, humans are destined to lose the fight with technology if we don't approach it differently. How many people have 'decided' to cut social media out of their lives or use less of it? It is expected that we come out on the losing side of things when all things considered.
Digital Minimalism focuses on putting us on top of this challenge, giving us an edge that we never had in this fleeting battle.